The ICD-11-CM transition: Looking forward to implementation

The transition to ICD-11 is coming, and 3M HIS is here to help. We'll debrief the major updates for you and provide an analysis of how the proposed changes could affect your organization, and, more importantly, what you can do to prepare for this historic change.

In my previous ICD-11 blog posts, I discussed navigating the basics of ICD-11 and preparing for the inevitable change. But these blog posts may seem very premature, given that we don't have a set target date for ICD-11 implementation. The only information we have is that 2025 is a possible implementation year, with 2027 being more realistic if the U.S. decides to perform clinical modifications. 

However, I firmly believe in getting ahead and not waiting until the last minute. In the health care world, we all feel like time moves quickly, so why not start discussing some of the changes that may need to take place to keep your organization on track.

Transitioning from ICD-10-CM to ICD-11 probably won't be as painful as the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10. However, there are enough key differences to consider what may need to be done at your organization for a successful change process. A significant first step is to determine a small, core group of key participants who will need to be involved in ongoing discussions. The following are some recommendations.

• Assign an individual or individuals to track and communicate updates on ICD-11. Information may come from government agencies, your EHR vendor or payers. 
• Discuss the upcoming change with your EHR vendor and request updates about how they will handle the new code system. Systems will need to accommodate both ICD-10 and ICD-11. 
• Take inventory of the ICD-10 codes used for reporting or data mining and start reviewing how they will crosswalk to ICD-11 codes. 
• If you haven't already determined what internal policies and procedures contain ICD-10 codes, now is an excellent time to create a list for future updates. 
• Think about education for your staff. Who will need education and how do you want to present the information? For example, will education on coding and documentation for ICD-11 be created and performed by internal staff, or will you need to contract with outside consultants? 
• Determine if you will incur additional costs from current or future vendors for system updates to ICD-11. 
• Find out if there will be future projects at your organization that may compete with the implementation of ICD-11 and create a strain on resources. 
• Discuss and list possible changes that may need to happen to your organization's IT structure.

Remember, this change only impacts ICD-10-CM and not ICD-10-PCS. However, it may be wise to have some of your senior medical coders start to review ICD-11 to understand how the new structure works and the differences from ICD-10. The World Health Organization has an excellent comprehensive training tool that allows viewers to work their way through the training modules at their own pace. In addition, look to 3M Inside Angle as we continue to release the latest ICD-11 transition information.

Karla VonEschen is a coding analyst at Solventum.

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